


Designed?

by Eternal Scribe (Shadowcat)



Category: Nancy Drew Case Files
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2011-01-01
Updated: 2011-01-01
Packaged: 2017-10-14 07:10:52
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,049
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/146727
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Shadowcat/pseuds/Eternal%20Scribe
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Missing scenes in the Nancy Drew File No 30 <i>Death by Design</i>. The missing scene where Ned learns that Nancy is poisoned and could possibly die.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Designed?

Ned couldn't sleep.

Instead, he was slumped in a chair next to Nancy's bed, watching _her_ sleep.

 _Poisoned._

Someone had poisoned Nancy and she was slowly dying as he and Bess watched it happen. He didn't know what to do in this situation and he hated feeling helpless.

He was used to facing the danger -- and the worry -- of Nancy's chosen profession. She was good at what she did, and she knew her stuff very well. She had made many enemies and those enemies had tried to kill her more than once.

Things were different this time, though. If the note Nancy received had been telling the truth, then this time Nancy was dying because of a would-be killer's mistake.

The fact that his girlfriend was in danger of dying because of an accident just seemed to make all of this that much worse.

When she had called and asked him to come down to meet her, he could tell something was wrong. There was a desperation in her voice that he couldn't recall ever hearing before. He knew something bad had happened on her latest case -- he just hadn't been prepared for how bad it was.

 _Poisoned._

Ned leaned forward to rest his head in his hands. According to Nancy, the doctor she had seen at the pathology department of the hospital hadn't yet been able to identify the strain of poison that had been administered to her. Without knowing the exact poison, they couldn't make an antidote.

Without the antidote, and the time to allow it to work in her body, they wouldn't be able to save her life.

Nancy had done what she could for the night. She had still worked on the case, trying to figure out who was trying to kill Kim -- and now herself. She had placed an ad on the hotel bulletin board, hopefully enticing the poisoner to either meet with her or somehow tell her the name of the poison that was even now killing her.

She had been asleep almost as soon as her head hit the pillow. Rather than going back to his own room, Ned had pulled a chair up to the side of her bed and settled in there for the night. Even though he knew it was silly, even though the damage was already done, he couldn't quell the overwhelming desire he always had to look out for her and keep her safe.

Only, this time he hadn't been here. This time he had been too late.

Helplessness was not a feeling that Ned did well. He had long ago taken it upon himself to be a bodyguard for Nancy on her dangerous cases. He was an athlete. He was a fighter. He would do anything to protect the young woman he loved.

This time, there was no one to hit for her and it frustrated him. He couldn't fight the poison that was coursing through her body. He couldn't beat it up and make it quit threatening her. All he could do in this instance was watch and wait.

It wasn't a situation or a position that he enjoyed. It wasn't in his nature to do nothing.

So many thoughts went through his mind as he watched her sleep. He remembered how frail and vulnerable she had seemed earlier when he held her in his lap as she cried. She had been so upset and so scared as she held onto him and he would have done just about anything to take that all away from her. He wasn't used to seeing her like that and it had shaken him to his core. Frailty was not something he was used to seeing when it came to Nancy Drew.

He got to his feet and paced the bedroom of her suite restlessly. More than anything, he wanted to find the person who had done this to her and beat them to within an inch of their lives. She had been trying to help someone -- as she always did -- and she did not deserve to have this done to her in return. Having someone to hit would definitely make him feel better and feel like he was doing something for his girlfriend instead of watching helpless as she suffered.

He had wanted her to go back to the hospital like her doctor suggested so that she could rest and at least be made more comfortable while he and Bess tried to track down her would-be killer. Of course, she had refused. She didn't want to lay in the hospital and just wait for the poison to do its job and kill her. She wanted to be with them, _doing_ something to try and save herself. She was also worried that the killer would try to get at Kim again -- and this time succeed.

As much as he wished he didn't, he understood that desire of Nancy's. She didn't like feeling helpless, either, and being in a hospital doing nothing would make her feel helpless. At least by doing it her way, she was with them and still working -- focusing her mind on something else besides what was happening to her.

Ned grumbled quietly to himself and returned to the chair next to Nancy's bed. He could not lose her like this. He just couldn't. No, he _would_ not lose Nancy. He wouldn't allow the poisoner to win and take away the brightest point in his life.

He watched as she shifted restlessly in her sleep, and his forehead furrowed when she didn't react to the feel of him reaching for her hand. She must really be worn out if she didn't wake up at the sensation of someone touching her.

"I promise you, Nancy," Ned vowed softly as he held her hand. "I promise you that we'll find this creep and we'll get you taken care of." Standing up, he leaned over the bed and placed a kiss on her forehead. Reluctantly, he let go of her hand and headed to the door.

He knew he should try to get some sleep because nobody knew what might happen tomorrow -- and he didn't want Nancy to get worn out even quicker by worrying about him.

"I love you," he said as he closed her bedroom door behind him.


End file.
